I was wondering if anyone can give me a step-by-step breakdown of how to get into pinball simulation, i.e. which programs and roms to download and which directories these should be placed etc.

Cheers in advance for anyones time

{- Catch ya in da future!!! -}

1. Get a copy of Visual Pinball. The latest version can always be found at the homepage , or can be found here .
2. Unzip the file into a directory, and run the "SETUP.EXE" file, which will install the program.
3. Get a copy of VisualPinMAME. The latest version can be found at the homepage , or downloaded from here . If you go to the homepage, be careful not to download a copy of "normal" PinMAME by mistake. (Caught me out the first time...)
4. Unzip this file into another directory. I create a folder inside the Visual Pinball directory called VPINMAME but it doesn't really matter where you put it.
5. When you've unzipped VpinMAME, you should see a file called "SETUP.BAT". Double-click the file to run it. You should get a message telling you that VPINMAME.DLL has successfully been entered into the registry.
6. Now create a new folder inside your VPINMAME directory, and call it ROMS.
7. You'll now need to get ROMs and the Visual Pinball table files. You can get these from a number of websites listed at the very bottom of this document.
8. Put table files into the TABLES folder inside your VPINBALL directory.
9. Create a new folder inside your VPINMAME\ROMS directory, with the same name as the first part of the zip file, ie if the zipfile is called "TZ_94H.ZIP", call the folder "TZ_94H". Unzip the ROMs file into this folder.
10. You're now ready to go. Start Visual Pinball, and open the table file you want to play. Now, hit the play button. Next, follow the on-screen instructions. If it’s the very first time you’ve played a table, the first time the table starts up, it does diagnostics, so you’ll need to close it and hit play again, and now you’re ready to play. The 5 key is insert coin, the 1 key is start, and the shift keys are the flipper controls. F1 is various options, F2 is a key legend, and F3 is reset.

Great Visual Pinball/VisualPinMame Links:

> 1. Get a copy of Visual Pinball. The latest version can always be found at the
> homepage , or can be found here .
> 2. Unzip the file into a directory, and run the "SETUP.EXE" file, which will
> install the program.
> 3. Get a copy of VisualPinMAME. The latest version can be found at the homepage
> , or downloaded from here . If you go to the homepage, be careful not to
> download a copy of "normal" PinMAME by mistake. (Caught me out the first
> time...)
> 4. Unzip this file into another directory. I create a folder inside the Visual
> Pinball directory called VPINMAME but it doesn't really matter where you put it.
> 5. When you've unzipped VpinMAME, you should see a file called "SETUP.BAT".
> Double-click the file to run it. You should get a message telling you that
> VPINMAME.DLL has successfully been entered into the registry.
> 6. Now create a new folder inside your VPINMAME directory, and call it ROMS.
> 7. You'll now need to get ROMs and the Visual Pinball table files. You can get
> these from a number of websites listed at the very bottom of this document.
> 8. Put table files into the TABLES folder inside your VPINBALL directory.
> 9. Create a new folder inside your VPINMAME\ROMS directory, with the same name
> as the first part of the zip file, ie if the zipfile is called "TZ_94H.ZIP",
> call the folder "TZ_94H". Unzip the ROMs file into this folder.
> 10. You're now ready to go. Start Visual Pinball, and open the table file you
> want to play. Now, hit the play button. Next, follow the on-screen
> instructions. If it’s the very first time you’ve played a table, the first time
> the table starts up, it does diagnostics, so you’ll need to close it and hit
> play again, and now you’re ready to play. The 5 key is insert coin, the 1 key
> is start, and the shift keys are the flipper controls. F1 is various options, F2
> is a key legend, and F3 is reset.
>
> Great Visual Pinball/VisualPinMame Links:
>
>
>
>
>

The newest vpinmame (beta3) uses a file called Setup.exe -- and once you run that file, do not delete or move the setup.exe file or any file you unzipped for visual pinmame -- it uses these files and keeps track of where you originally ran it on your hard drive.